[Conventions in theatre are aspects of a particular theatre. E.G. A convention in Brechtian theatre would be the music and dancing. A convention in Artaudian theatre would be the use of lights and sounds.]
Here are some:
Masks: Very important. It is also the main part of a masquerade, which is the theatre we will be looking into.
Costumes: Also important. Mainly made out of natural materials such as grass etc.
Drumming: Sets the tone. Also controls the tension with the tempo. Often synchronized with physical acting.
Dance: Mostly consisted of dancing. Normally extreme including some gymnastics as well (flips, twirls etc)
Storyline: Stories told are usually legends and well-known stories (similar to Balinese Theatre)
Once we finished this brainstorm, we were given a story. Ekineba. She was a human, who had connections with the gods.
Ekineba was so beautiful that even the Water People, changing themselves into humans, courted her. The son of the chief priest of Ojoma took a dowry and went to her. Her spirit told her this was the man she would marry. They married, and he took her away in his canoe. Some Water People were upset, and caused a storm to capsize the canoe. Ekineba was taken to the town of the Water People. The mother of the Water People was angry that the canoe had been capsized. When the Water People came home from work, the mother expressed her anger, and they said that they would return her to the land of humans. The chief priest of Ojoma had died, but the son was angry with the gods for not helping him when his wife died. The Water People, before they took Ekineba home, danced for her and told her to beat their drum, the first human to do so. They warned her that at every party she must be the first to beat the drum, to purify the drums. Then they returned her to her home, telling her not to allow her husband to embrace her before he had purified her. He did that, and they embraced. Later, Ekineba told her husband how the Water People had wanted to marry her but she had refused. That is why two of them had taken her away. Then she showed her husband how to make drums, what people should do when she beat them. But some were annoyed that she was always the first to play the drums, and one drummer kept playing before she did. She knew that the Water People were encouraging him, and she did not long to stay in the world of men. She told the people she would be leaving, and she sat and wrapped a cloth around her face. It was evening, and a storm came up: the Water People were coming. She told the people to beat their drums, night fell, a thick cloud descended, and the Water People took Ekineba away.
-Story copied from http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people-
Using the conventions we discussed about before, we interpreted this story. We didn't have much time and also didn't have access to that much of a variety in masks. The masks that Mr. Meiklejohn had available were masks that had japanese characters on them and we thought that it didn't quite fit. So we selected some that fit some characters.
Mei, being Ekineba, had a half-face mask that had some bright colors on them and Sofia had a full silver mask.
Mei wore the mask to show that she was a special human being as opposed to the drummer (Maria) who did not had a mask.
Sofia wore a mask to show her superiority over Sara and me, who were the water people.
We took mostly the most important plots of the story and left out the little details, and what we had was:
Ekineba got kidnapped by the two water people while strolling around. The water people took her to their mother who was not pleased at all about this kidnap and ordered both to return her to the human world. Once the water people returned her, they gave her a tambourine. Ekineba then started to drum but there was another drummer who would want the most attention, making her feel out of place. Because of her sadness, the water people went to get her and escort her to the water world, leaving the tambourine behind (signifying that she left the duty).
Additional notes: Maria was the drummer (the character) but also the percussionist of the play, so she was drumming the whole time.
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MASQUERADES
In masquerades, the costumes and masks are symbolic to represent an ancestor, an animal, a human, or a spirit. Often these roles are very hard to achieve, requiring a long term training to learn specific characteristics, dance steps and musical accompaniments. The performers are often men and some act as female characters (which reminds me of Balinese theatre because the dalang has to be all characters, including the women).
Masquerades can be performed for purely entertainment purposes or it can be performed for religious purposes.
Also, there is a saying,
Adiro akwu ofu ebe enene nmanwu
meaning One does not stand on one spot to watch a masquerade.
this implies that the masquerade involves not only the actors but also the audiences. The audience could also be from all ages but still enjoy the masquerade.
Bibliography:
Answers.com.Ekineba and the Water People.15 Apr 2009.URL:http://www.answers.com/topic/ekineba-and-the-water-people
American Museum of Natural History.African Spirit Dancer. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/expeditions/treasure_fossil/Treasures/African_Spirit_Dancer/dancer.html?50
Umunna Cultural Association of Indianapolis. Masquerade from the Igboland. 15 Apr 2009. URL: http://umunna.org/masquerade.htm
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